Purush & Mahapurush

Main Feature - Purrush - The Male Dancer

The paradox of the male monopoly in the dance-drama traditions of Kuchipudi or Kathakali (with males taking female- roles also), derives from a convoluted priest versus dancer rivalry and ritual versus art conflict, which were resolved by a special interpretation of the concept of dance as yagna or sacrifice. The female monopoly of Bharatanatyam in South Indian society, where the lord of dance is the male dancer Nataraja who defeated the female dancer Kali, seems to be an even greater paradox. But it can be accounted for by the stronger rival tradition of bhakti sringara or devotional eroticism which took shape about the same time as the Nataraja cult.

Profile - Ustad Allauddin Khan

Ustad Allauddin Khan was not a boasting man but he could boast of several achievements. The most singular of the achievements was the fact he was witness to and a participant in the celebration of his own birth centenary on 7 October 1962, although he was only 81 years old at that time. He was only 91 years of age when he died on 6 September 1972. Allauddin Khan himself was wont to advance his date of birth. This fact has been brought out by Jotin Bhattacharya, one of Allauddin Khans disciples who also served as Khan Saheb9 secretary, in his book Ustad Allauddin Khan And His Music (B.S. Shah Prakashan, Ahmedabad, 1979).

Obituary of Pandit Kashinath Shankar Boda

The Kanpur-based Vishnu Digambar Paluskar mission of propagating Hindustani music came to an abrupt end with the sudden demise of Pandit Kashinath Shankar Bodas on 20 July in Toronto, Canada. Pandit Bodas was on a concert-cum-teaching tour when the end came. The missionary work in Kanpur had begun when Kashinaths father and V.D. Paluskars disciple, Shankar Sripad Bodas, arrived in the industrial city to fulfill his gurus mandate to popularise art music. Kashinath had taken over the responsibility when his father passed away.

Bom in Kanpur in 1935, Kashinath showed a remarkable aptitude for music even as a boy. His father, who also taught at the degree level in S.N. Sen Balika Vidyalaya, took the youngster with him to the classes where the little fellow displayed interest in accompanying the practising students on the tabla.